Yen hits six-month low on BOJ chief's hint of further stimulus

THE yen plunged to a six-month low against the US dollar in Tokyo yesterday after Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda signalled the central bank's willingness to further ramp up monetary stimulus in order to achieve the target of 2 per cent annual inflation in "about two years".

Mr Kuroda emphasised in Tokyo that the BOJ had made a "very clear commitment" to meet its inflation goal and that the central bank is ready to adjust its monetary policy "up or down" in order to achieve that.

His comments appeared to feed into already bearish market sentiment towards the yen, which yesterday continued the sharply downward trajectory set this month since Finance Minister Taro Aso signalled willingness to intervene in currency markets if necessary.